Nautic Partners, a private equity firm based in Rhode Island, USA, has joined forces with Prince’s management team in acquiring Prince Sports from its existing controlling shareholders for an undisclosed amount. Founded in 1986, Nautic manages over $2.3 billion in assets and a portfolio of 32 companies. While it owns Pace Fitness, a fitness company, most of its other holdings are medium-sized companies operating in business services, manufacturing, healthcare and communications.
Nautic is taking over from another investment company, the Lincolnshire Fund, that acquired control of Prince in March 2003 as part of a management buyout led by its president, George Napier, who is still in charge. They jointly bought Prince and its Ektelon subsidiary from Benetton Group for $39.5 million. Late last year, the company began looking for a new investment partner to support its growth and development plans.
In recent times Prince has enjoyed sustained growth. It is expected to reach revenues of $100 million in the current financial year. The growth can be largely attributed to the success of its 03 line of tennis racquets and the development of new products in tennis footwear, apparel and strings. Its new O3 Speedport Red racquet was rated by Sports Marketing Surveys as the hottest new model in the U.S. specialty retail circuit during the 12 months ended last June. Prince has also been confirmed as the #1 tennis brand in Japan in terms of volume and value.
